Folding support for ironing boards and the like



J1me 1949. u. K. JOHANILJSEN ,1 7

FOLDING SUPPORT, FOR IRONING BOARDS AND THE LIKE Filed July 26,. 1945INVENTOR Vda i1. ,l'altamwen BY %u/ 9" fw ATTORNEYS Patented June 21,1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING SUPPORT FOR IRONING BOARDS ANDTHE LIKE Udo K. Johannsen, Cortland, Y., assignor to Brewer-TitchenerCorporation, Cortland, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July26, 1945, Serial No. 607,224-

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanically and functionally improvedcollapsible structure or assembly and in its more specific aspects aimstoprovide a. unit of this type functioning as a supportv or table whichwill be of especial value when used as an ironing board.

It is anobject of the invention to provide a structure which, withminimumefiort, may have its parts extended or collapsed. When soretracted or collapsed, they will occupy only a small amount of spaceand will provide a compact unit capable of'ready transportation.

A further object is thatof furnishing a structure which, when extended,will be extremely rigid so that a satisfactory form of support isprovided which will be free from any danger of collapse even whensubjected to considerable- Fig; 1 is a side elevation showing a unit inerected position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the unit in partially collapsedcondition;

Fig. 3 illustrates the parts in completely housed or retractedpositions;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the parts as shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is fragmentary view'similar to Fig. 2 but showing an alternativeform of structure.

In these views, the reference numeral II] indicates the deck of thestructure. This deck may be formed of wood or any other suitablematerial. Supports II and I2 extend from the under face of the deck andpivotally mount legs I3 and H. These supports may form parts of bracketsI5 and I6 suitably secured to the top II), it being observed that thebracket I6 is conveniently provided with an extension I1 from which theentire assembly.

may be suspended when collapsed.

The legs I3 and I4 are preferably formed of metal and are angular insection. Accordingly, they will combine a maximum of strength with aminimum of weight. While only a single forward leg I3 is preferablyemployed, a pair of rear legs H are included. Each of these latter legsmay be 'braced by tangentially extending members: [8

fixed at their outer ends to the legs and pivotallysecured adjacenttheir inner ends, to extensions;

I9-of the bracket I6.

The leg I3 embraces a main body portion identia fied by this numeral anda supplementary or second body portion 20; Both of these portions. maybe parts of channelmembers with the portion I 3 of a width such that itmay receive and;

house the portion 20. The portions I3 and 2.0-.

are connected by pairs of links 2I pivotally secured at their oppositeends to the respective-per:- tions. Thus, a parallel link motionisprovided;

the links 2| being capable of swinging movements; through substantially180.

the links attached to leg portion 20- swung in a counter-clockwisedirection to a maximum distance, that portion 20 will be housed to amajor extent within the body of portion I3 of the leg.

- When swung to a corresponding degree in a clock wise direction,portion 20 will be in line with and,

in effect, form a fixed part of leg portion I3; In.

such position the pivots of the links have at least shifted to positionswhere they are aligned.- Under these circumstances, the leg I3 will havea maximum length.

Now with a view to securing such an actuation of the parts, one pair ofrods 22 have their outer ends secured one to each of the leg I4. Theiropposite ends are secured as in Figs. 1 to 4 to the leg portion I3 andadjacent the outer end of the latter. Conveniently, such securing is atboth ends of the rods effected by pivot connections; the pivot at theinner ends of the rods being;

' substantially in line with the pivot of the links.

2|. The rods 23 are conveniently. connected to the pivots supporting thelegs Hi. The ends of these rods are connected to the portion 20"of"theleg I3 and, as will be observed, extend across the plane of the rods 22.

With the parts thus assembled, legs I4 may be. swung to positionsadjacent the undersidev of the deck II] or else to positions such ashave links 2I to swing in clockwise directions. In the interim, the rods22 will bring the portion I3 of the leg from a position adjacent theunderface of the deck to a position such as has been shown in Fig. 1. Asis obvious in assuming the latter position, the cooperation of the legportions I3 and 20 will act as a stop to limit movement of the partsbeyond the desired point. Contact with the underface of the deck I0 willserve to limit With the ends of" I As they are shifted to the. latterpositions, the rods 23 will act to cause the the movements of the partsbeyond an opposite extreme position.

With the legs I4 and I3 diverging with respect to each other and thedeck l0, it will be found that the greater the strain or weight imposedon that deck the greater will be the tendency of the parts to remain inthe positions to which they have beenshifted. However, by simplyemploying the legs it as actuating members, the parallel link movementwill be operated to cause those ends of the links 2| attached to the legportion 26 to swing in counter-clockwise directions as viewed in 1. Thismovement of the parts will continue until portion 20 is housed to amaximum extent within portion 13 and as these parts shift in circulardirections with respect to each other, Again, when it is desired toerect the parts, it will be found that this may also be readily achievedby simply grasping and shifting the legs it with respect to the deckIll.

. In certain instances, it might be desired to have the leg portion 20of greater length. This may readily be achieved by resorting to thestructure shown, for example, in Fig. 5. In that view, leg portions 24and 25 have been indicated. These portions are ccnnnected by links 26and 21. The uppermost link 28, however, is disposed adjacent the pointof pivotal connection of the leg portion 25 to the underside of the deckI0. Therefore, with the end of this pair of links connected to the legportion 25, the latter may be of, substantially greater height. The rods28 and 225 connected to the pair of legs corresponding to the legs willcause the parts to shift precisely in the manner afore described.Therefore, the operation of this form of unit will be the same as theoperation heretofore traversed.

,When the structure is extended, it may, in certain instances, bedesirable to lock the parts against further movements with respect toeach other. This may be achieved by having the portions 13 and 2t? ofthe supporting leg each formed with an opening which is aligned as theleg portions reach their fully extended positions. A spring-pressedlocking pin 30 may, under these circumstances, automatically projectthrough both openings to prevent further movements of the parts. Whenthe structure is to be collapsed, this readily be achieved by simplyretracting the pin and thereupon shifting the leg portions.

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention as specificallyafore noted are achieved. Obviously, numerous changes in constructionand rearrangements of the parts might be resorted to Without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

I 1. A folding table including in combination a deck, a leg pivotallyconnected at its upper end to the underside of said deck and in oneextreme position extending downwardly and outwardly with respect to saidunderside, said leg including an upper and a lower portion, links ofsubstantially similar lengths each having one end pivotally connected tothe upper of said portions at ,4 points spaced in the length of thelatter and with their opposite ends similarly connected to the lower ofsaid portions, said links and leg portions all projecting in directionsparallel to each other in said one extreme leg position, means forpreventing the movements or" said links and portions beyond suchparallel direction, said leg in its opposite extreme position extendingsubstantially parallel and beside the under face of said deck and withthe lower leg portion having the major part of its body disposedadjacent the body of the upper portion, a second leg also pivotallysecured to the underside of said deck at a point spaced from the pivotof said first leg and means connecting said second leg with the portionsof said first named leg whereby to swing the same from one to the otherof said extreme positions as said second leg is swung around its pivot.

2. A folding table including in combination a deck, a leg pivotallyconnected at its upperend to the underside of said deck and in oneextreme position extending downwardly and outwardly with respect to saidunderside, said leg including an upper and a lower portion, links ofsubstantially similar lengths each having oneend pivotally connected tothe upper of said portions at points spaced in the length of the latterand with.

their opposite ends similarly connected to the lower of said portions,said links and leg portions all projecting in directions parallel toeach other in said one extreme leg position, means.

for preventing the, movements of said links and portions beyond. suchparallel direction, said'leg in its opposite extreme position extendingsub-,

stantially' parallel and beside the under face of said deck and with thelower leg portion having the major part of its body disposed adjacentthe body of the upper portion, a second leg also pivotally secured tothe underside of said deck at a point spaced from the pivot of saidfirst leg, a pair of rods, one having one end pivotally connected to thelower of said first leg portions, its.

opposite end being connected substantially in line with the pivot ofsaid second leg and the other of said rods having one end pivotallyconnected to the second leg at a point spaced from the pivot thereof,its body crossing said one rod and having its opposite end pivotallyconnected to the uppermost of said leg portions whereby as said secondleg is swung around its pivotthe portions of said first named leg willbe moved from one to the other of said extreme positions.

UDO K. J OHANNSEN 7 REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

